Obsessions
by dokuki
Summary: Great minds know no such thing as love; the word itself is a foreign concept. I am a scientist; therefore, I do not know love.' - I never understood that man. Not once. Marie/Stein. Kidd/OC-implied.


**Soul Eater © Atsushi Okubo**

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He once told me, _'Great minds know no such thing as love; the word itself is a foreign concept. I am a scientist; therefore, I do not know love.'_

I never understood that… not once. Love is not something you have to know. It is not knowledge, nor is it a _thing_. Love is something you feel. But no matter how much I'd try to define the definition of love; love itself is defined in so many ways.

Professor Stein indeed has a great mind but, I think insane is more the term I would use to define a mind such as his. Marie Sensei was hopelessly in love with Professor Stein, and they got along just fine, even without Stein's need to dissect every moving object that catches his interest. Although, the moment I mentioned that to Marie Sensei… she went into her depression of _spinsterism_.

"So he does not find me interesting?!" she bawled.

I sweat dropped at her frantic figure. "That's… not what I meant Marie-sensei."

"Is it cause' I'm not his ideal woman? Is it my buns or my thighs? Do I look fat-?"

"Whoa, whoa… sensei, we're not ordering chicken 'kay, just… relax for a bit. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. What I meant was that Professor Stein_ thinks_ he does not know love"

She quivered her lips, looking at me with her teary eyes. She reminded me of a kicked puppy sitting in the rain. Of course I felt sorry.

"Ne ne… sensei, daijoubu daijoubu. I'll see what I can do" I reassured her as I patted her shoulder.

She perked a bit, sniffling, looking hopeful. "Eh? Honto ni?"

I nodded. "Un."

Marie sensei gave me a bone crushing hug. "Arigato Masa-chan"

"I make no promises sensei; Professor Stein is considered a challenge in my book"

She nodded blissfully. "Un. Wakatta"

Marie-sensei skipped off merrily. It was better than having her wreck toilets or worse, attempt to marry one—Yumi-sensei had witnessed to it before.

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I have this tendency to be overly friendly to my authority figures. And somehow, by magic or I'm just _that_ good, my guardians of Shibusen react accordingly. Take, Professor Stein for example, aside from the fact that he has an obsession with his theories and what not; he gives me the time of day; whether it'd be nonsense or concern.

"Nanda-yo Masa?" he said, not looking up to acknowledge me.

I had entered the classroom, whilst everyone went to lunch and hopped on his desk, dangling my legs back and forth. Stein had been looking over some papers before I rudely interrupted his train of insane thoughts.

I pretended to think about it. "Betsu ni, nandemo nai-yo Sensei"

"Oh?"

Professor is utterly sarcastic, most times, it's hard to tell if he's being serious or not. But I really don't take much consideration into his words, I think of it as nonsense with hidden meanings. He was either blunt or cryptic, and I didn't want to stress my noggin in trying to figure out what exactly he trying to say.

We stayed silent for a moment, as he continued to read over his papers, and I absentmindedly dangled my feet, sitting on his desk. If it even came down to who would break first, you could bet your allowance that he and I could go on forever doing this in silence. In a sick humorous way, it was a game to us. But today, I was just not in the mood to play.

"Ne… Professor Stein" I drawled out.

"Nani?"

"Say it one more time."

He looked up incredulously. "Nani?"

"You know, the whole, great minds don't know love bit, say it again"

"Great minds know no such thing as love; the word itself is a foreign concept. I am a scientist; therefore, I do not know love"

I smiled at him, as he looked up at me with his glasses shining intently. "Naze?"

"A crazy thought, but I have to disagree with that logic"

Now he looked mildly interested in what I had to say, because it's not everyday that one of his students was out to prove him wrong. He wasn't the type to have a mindset of always being 'right' per se, but for someone as simple minded as me was something to look forward to in objections—I think that he thinks.

"Indulge me" he said, as he twisted the bolt in his head.

He took the bait.

I jumped off his desk, twisting fully to face him. "Silly professor, of course you know love"

"Oh?"

I nodded. "Un"

"See, love comes in all different kinds of genres."

"Like?"

"Like… family for instance, or someone that you care for as a friend, or maybe even a thing or a hobby"

"Go on…"

"Mmm… take for example your love for dissecting things. That's a form of love"

"I think you're mistaking a trivial feeling for _obsession_"

"You got a point there Professor, an insane man like you… it's a very good point. Still…"

"Nani?"

"I think you were deprived of something from your childhood."

"Call it what you will Masa-_chan, Love_ has nothing to do with it" he said, looking down at his paper once more.

Apparently I've failed to indulge his curiosity. But I'm not done yet, this was far from over.

"Obsession you say?"

"Un. A mere obsession, leave my obsessive hobby out of it"

I smirked. "Well then, Marie-sensei is very much in-_obsession _with you"

This caused him to look up once more. Since Medusa and the kishin drama, Stein had grown a slight fondness to Marie, appreciative most likely. But all was dealt with, and both had returned after finding the real killer of Joe, and although Stein's insanity toned several notches down; he's still insane, mind you. True, Love is a foreign concept to him. But if I gave him a little push to be curious enough to figure it out, maybe it wouldn't turn out so bad in the end.

I shrugged my shoulders. "But whatever, if love is such a confounding thing, maybe you should do further research to prove your little logic of love to be a mere trivia"

The bell rang just in time and I smiled, sticking my hands into my jacket pockets.

"Sore ja. Don't let your mind wander too much over it"

Throwing over the peace sign, I left.

It took some time, but I managed to find some pretty interesting discoveries in the hallways or in the cracks of partially closed doors. I'm an eavesdropper, I can't help it.

There were a few instances of my assumptions proved to be true, like how Marie-sensei had that glazed look, not to mention her giddiness when she passed me by in the hallways. Or how they interacted more than they usually did, Stein was more aware when she was around. It wasn't the most progressive, but it was progressing nonetheless.

"Nani wo shiteimasu ka?"

I looked up to find Kidd, Liz and Patti absent. Usually those three were joined at the hip. But I guess Kidd had shinigami matters to attend to.

"Betsuni…" I said, walking away from the door I was currently peeping in. Good timing too, otherwise I would've met face to face with Professor and Sensei. Kidd followed, bent on knowing what I saw just moments ago. But as they descended down the hallway, it didn't take long for him to figure it out.

He smirked smugly at me as we walked in sync the opposite way of Professor and Sensei.

"It's come to my attention that Soul and Maka are in a similar dilemma" Kidd announced as we rounded a sharp corner of the hallways.

I've only known Kidd and the rest for a short time, but like with the teachers and guardians at this school, my peers as well, I managed to befriend them. I like to know about a lot of things, and it's for damn sure if I didn't know, I was going too one way or another. Kidd's love for symmetrical things was a first for me. OCD was a bad mammajamma to have, Kidd, I think just got the short end of the shit stick. However, he was tolerable to be around… in my book at least.

"For a person as perceptive as you are junior, I find it hard to believe it took you this long to notice that."

Kidd glared at me, while I smirked at him smugly. "Nevertheless, it seems to my understanding you're wanting me to play cupid with those two?"

He groaned, long forgetting my tart remark of him. "Those two are so oblivious it's worse than asymmetries."

"Nah, I still think that your train of thought; asymmetries are and will always be the worse thing possible in your eyes"

"It is my life's work, aside from my duties as a shinigami, that I create a perfect symmetrical world"

I sweat dropped, scratching the back of my head. "Yea… good luck with that buddy"

_With Black Star around, you won't get far… not even a mile. _

He took that as a genuine encouragement, I assume. "Yosh!"

"Ganbatte ne junior. Fighto. Fighto." I added lamely.

"Ah! Sou sou! About Soul and Maka…"

"Yea… I'll see what I can do. Why don't we wait it out a bit, I predict its going to be an interesting ride for those two."

Stupid Cupid…

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**Yea... lately i've been catching up on my Soul Eater Episodes since i've been slacking major. But since i'm still on writer's block with my other stories, i decided i'd attempt to get my groove back this way. Be looking out for a Soul/Maka fic. I love that pairing. Actually... come to think of it, they're the only pairing that isn't OC. Which is a big feat for me since i'm into having ppl do original chracters. But please, tell me what you think? I know it wasn't much of Marie/Stein, but i couldn't figure out a way to keep Stein in character without having him take doses of crack. But this is as far as i could go without ruining his reputation. hehe. Oh yea, if you haven't notice, there is a little Kid/OC goin on. I just couldn't resist! Gome ne! REVIEW PLEASE!**


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